A Minor Interlude
by donutsweeper
Summary: Waiting in Cardiff to meet up with the Doctor Jack is excited when the TARDIS arrives, but doesn't recognize Turlough or Five when they step out.


Despite the fact Jack hadn't heard that particular noise in more than fifty years he recognized it right away; it was a sound that plagued his dreams, the sound of the TARDIS blinking into existence.

He peered around the corner, seeking its familiar shape. It would be the Doctor and Rose, come to collect him. They'd joke about leaving him behind, their lightheartedness covering up sheepish apologies and explanations. He'd vent his anger with them, for a moment, before accepting their hugs and their offer to travel with them again. Together. In the TARDIS. At long last.

Or, he thought as two strangers stepped out, a TARDIS anyway. The same blue police box, but no one he recognized. Two men, obviously comfortable with each other; one ginger, in a suit but tugging frustratedly on his tie, the other blonde, taller, and dressed for cricket for some reason. Who were these men? Jack inched closer to try to listen to what they were saying.

"...go back for Tegan after she's had some time to calm down, or we could go and check on Nyssa and see how she's getting on." Jack suspected that the ginger one didn't seem to expect his suggestions would be taken seriously, his tone flat, like he was speaking for the sake of filling the time. "Or the Brigadier, he'd be happy to see you. It would be something to do, even if that stupid school is the last place I'd like to go back to." He smoothed his tie one last time and looked around. "So, where are we anyway? Earth? Again?"

"Yes! Cardiff, to be precise." The other man shoved his hands in his pockets and twirled to face his companion. " Isn't it grand?"

Jack snickered softly as the younger man's face fell when he heard where he was. "Cardiff? Wales? Why?"

"Why not? Adventure is what you make of it." He paused briefly to shut the TARDIS door. "Come along, Turlough. Don't you want to see what's out there?"

"Not particularly," Turlough muttered, before sighing a rather put upon sigh, and stepping quickly to catch up. "Coming, Doctor."

Doctor? Jack slipped around the corner, trying to get a better look. He hadn't misheard, had he? The younger man called the older one 'Doctor.' Was this really the Doctor? His Doctor?

"When is this?" Disdain crept into Turlough's voice as he skirted around the piles of refuse in the alley.

"I'm not sure." This Doctor had a level of lighthearted delight in his voice that Jack wasn't familiar with. "Nineteen... twenties I'd guess, but we can ask about to be certain."

Jack pressed himself back, trying to melt into the brickwork, half-hidden by some crates as the two men walked in his direction. His breath caught in his throat when the Doctor's pace slowed before muttering, "There's something here."

"You mean something _other _than piles of garbage and dung?"

"What? Oh, Turlough, really, there is more to..." The Doctor trailed off, his head tilting slightly as he scanned the alley up ahead of him. "What is that?"

"What is what? Sorry Doctor, I don't hear anything."

"No, not a sound, a feeling. It must be what brought the TARDIS here." He began inching along slowly.

"I thought that was your poor driving," Turlough said, half under his breath.

"Sorry, Turlough, I didn't quite catch that." The Doctor's reply seemed standard, like part of a typical repartee, but it was obvious he was distracted, focusing on something. Focusing on Jack.

Realizing there was no way to slip out of the alley unseen, and that the Doctor wasn't going to stop looking, Jack decided to grab the bull by the horns, squared his shoulders and stopped hiding. "I believe what you're looking for might be... me." Jack stepped out carefully, trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible. And then sighed when he saw the slightly puzzled look on the Doctor's face as the man approached. Not his Doctor then, not yet anyway.

"I'm the Doctor," the man said, approaching eagerly. He turned slightly to gesture to his companion, "and this is Turlough."

After a moment's hesitation, Jack took the offered hand and gave it a gentle shake, noting the smile he got as a result. This Doctor was terribly cheery; it was odd. "Jack," he replied tersely, thinking that keeping it simple was probably for the best. He took a step forward to also shake Turlough's hand, but then realized the younger man wasn't interested in anything but staring at him with a touch of distaste.

"Are you from around here, Jack?" On one level it was a simple question. He did call Cardiff home, but Jack knew that wasn't what was being asked, not really.

"For the time being." Jack smiled broadly. "Time being relative, that is." The Doctor quirked an eyebrow at that response, while Turlough moved closer, obviously picking up on some unspoken vibe emanating from the Doctor.

"Doctor..." It was a warning, hissed low and with a certain heat behind it that didn't surprise Jack; the Doctor always manage to surround himself with people willing to protect him. Willing to die for him.

"I assume you are a Time Lord?" May as well just jump in, parachute or not, it was a question that needed answering. He pointed to the police box sitting innocuously behind them. "The TARDIS kind of gives you away."

"Ah, yes. Well." The Doctor seemed to sense he wasn't in control of the conversation anymore, but was interested enough in discovering the outcome not to be bothered by that. The same could not be said of Turlough, who was glowering at Jack while nervously rubbing his hands together. "Seen one before, have you?"

"Not recently." How much should he push this? As far as he knew, in his time, there was only one Time Lord, only one TARDIS, and certainly only one Doctor, but was that the case in the time he was in now? This had to be the Doctor, his Doctor, but from before they'd met. Could what he said now, what he did now, alter things? Would it be such a bad thing if it did? Considering the way the Time War ended. Although, he supposed he must not have, since now would have become then when he and his Doctor met in this Doctor's future and things still ended the way they did. Maybe. Time travel always gave him a headache. "Or, not yet, depending how you look at it. It's complicated."

The Doctor gave a knowing smile. "It usually is." He tilted his head slightly, appraising Jack. "There's something about you, I can't quite make it out."

"I'm sure you will," Jack commented, keeping his voice level, "some day."

"Aha." The Doctor nodded. "I understand."

"Understand what, Doctor?" Turlough spoke up, his gaze going from the Doctor to Jack and back again.

"I think what Jack here is carefully not saying is that he and I are acquaintances. Or, were at some point in time for him, and will be eventually for me." The Doctor looked over to Jack for confirmation. "Yes?"

"You got it in one." Jack was about to make a joke when he noticed the Doctor was looking around nervously. "You don't have to worry - you're not, I mean, he's not, the Doctor I knew isn't around here anyway."

"Well, that's one thing that's gone right, at least." Turlough said, half to himself. He was peering at his shoes and began to absentmindedly scrape something off the bottom of one. "No need to worry about the Blinovitch Limitation Effect then. What is this stuff we're standing in? It smells disgusting."

"Turlough's right, maybe this isn't the conversation for an alleyway." The Doctor took a step towards the TARDIS but then hesitated. He took off his hat and crushed it in his hand. "Perhaps we should..."

"It's all right, Doctor." Jack understood why the Time Lord was hesitating. The man wasn't sure why they'd parted company in Jack's past. Jack certainly couldn't come out and say he'd been abandoned, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to admit it to himself. But he could at least put the Doctor's mind at ease, prove he had been a trusted traveling companion, if only for a short time. "Perhaps I could get the door for you?" He pulled out his keychain and after a quick whip around of the keys held up his TARDIS key. The Doctor's shoulders sagged with relief while Turlough maintained his perpetual scowl.

"You've a key. Excellent. That's excellent." The Doctor led the trio back to the TARDIS, where now, up close, Jack could see that while it was the same machine on the outside, it was altogether different within.

Turlough tented his fingers, pausing for a moment in the doorway. "So, are you one of the ones that walked away from the Doctor then?" Jack couldn't help but notice the exasperated look the Doctor shot Turlough when he asked his question.

"Walked away?"

"Yes, well it seems to me that after a while some people eventually get fed up with this lifestyle and want to part company with the Doctor." Turlough did not lower his gaze, and Jack had the feeling there was some sort of unspoken communication going on between the two of them, he was familiar enough with that sort of thing, having had several of his own with the Doctor himself. It seems to Jack that there might have been something more to Turlough's suggestions earlier; Tegan and Nyssa must have been former traveling companions.

"No, that's not..." Jack paused as he tried to find the right words. Time had dulled the ache, but it was still there. "No. There was a battle, of sorts, and we were separated."

"A battle?" The Doctor sounded surprised, understandably so, if this Doctor was anything like the one Jack had known he'd never be the one for fighting, avoiding it unless there was no other option available.

"I probably shouldn't say any more."

"Ah, yes." The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder in agreement. "You're right, that probably is for the best." There was a pause as the three men appraised each other. "But that does beg the question, what now?"

"What do you mean, what now?" Turlough leaned on the console. "You want this Jack fellow to come with us? Is it suddenly boys' night out in the TARDIS or something?"

"Oh, don't exaggerate, Turlough. I was just asking Jack what was next for him." He walked over to a coat rack and hung up his hat before approaching Jack. "I must admit, I get the strangest sensation from you, a hint of time and perhaps the vortex. Can you tell me why?"

And with that Jack's hopes were crushed. This might be the Doctor, but it wasn't his Doctor, and this man held no answers for him. He shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not."

Turlough spoke up then. "You can't talk of it because you don't want to, or because you don't know enough to?"

Jack smiled sadly, at both Turlough's insight and the vaguely surprised look on the Doctor's face. "You always did surround yourself with the best and brightest, Doctor." He waved his hand in Turlough's direction. "You're right, Turlough. In this case I honestly can't tell you a thing. All I know is I'm not the same man I was before that battle. I've changed, I've been changed, and I have no idea how or why."

"And you were hoping I would know." It was a statement, not a question, but it was one hundred percent correct in any case.

"Yeah." Jack ran a hand over his face. "I guess you had to be there, so see what happened." He sighed, and then shrugged. "Well, that's that. I'm back to waiting for you to be in the proper time line, one that matches mine. No harm done though, our little encounter here, but perhaps it would be better if you were to try to forget it, future consequences and all that." He walked over and offered his hand to Turlough. "It was a pleasure to meet another one of the Doctor's traveling companions. Enjoy your time here, or at least try to."

"Goodbye, Jack." Turlough seemed a bit sheepish at Jack's words, and gave a brisk handshake.

"And you," Jack pointed at the Doctor, "I hope to see you again soon. Well, soon for me. I've no idea how long it will be for you." Jack grinned, and threw the Doctor a salute, and headed for the door.

"Jack," the Doctor called out, stopping him. "You know, if I'm going to have to ensure that I do not remember this little rendezvous, perhaps there may as well be something worth forgetting?"

Jack laughed. "Why Doctor, just what are you suggesting?"

"Shut the door and find out." Jack cocked an eyebrow at the reply. This could prove interesting, so he did just that.


End file.
